The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly-growing modern technology that uses a network of physical objects or things driven by the internet to collect and exchange data. The data or information is gathered and interchanged with the help of in-built sensors. Since the communication between the devices is wireless, IoT has become immensely popular, and its application ranges over a broad spectrum of industries. As per Mckinsey reports, 127 IoT devices around the world are connected to the internet every second.
The advanced techniques and innovation in IoT have attracted both consumers and media alike. Smart devices in IoT seamlessly connect to other devices or the cloud through the internet and produce productive and valuable data. That’s why IoT has succeeded in creating a massive economic wave worldwide.
According to reports by the McKinsey Global Institute, the annual economic impact of IoT is expected to hit a whopping $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion by 2025.
IoT acts as a strong liaison between the physical and digital worlds where communication happens with minimal human intervention. So rippling has been the impact of the IoT technology that its applications are a part of our day-to-day lives (think thermostats, cars, and kitchen appliances).
This article will explore the technologies that have shaped the Internet of Things and take an in-depth look at real-life IoT applications.
Factors Behind The Success of IoT
The concept of IoT has materialized thanks to recent technological advances. Here’s throwing light on the key technologies that have made IoT possible:
1. Cost-effective and Low-power Sensor Technology
The applicability of IoT is hugely dependent on embedded sensors as they are the backbone of the communication between devices. Further advancements in this area have given rise to cost-effective and reliable sensors that have impacted IoT in different sectors.
2. Network Connectivity
Connecting sensors with the clouds or devices is the next important aspect of IoT that is achieved by a range of network protocols. This makes the data transfer faster and more effective.
3. Cloud Computing Platforms
Cloud platforms help consumers and business owners to get access to the IoT infrastructure. If there are many cloud computing platforms available, consumers have to scale up the IoT infrastructure without micromanaging.
4. Analytics and Machine Learning
Revolutions in Machine Learning and Data Analytics have made it easier to quickly and efficiently deduce valuable insights from large chunks of data. It is particularly important for business owners who rely on data. The development of allied technologies has further pushed the limits of IoT, which keeps it running with resourceful data.
5. Communicative Artificial Intelligence
Modern innovations in neural networks have brought Natural Language Processing (NLP) to IoT devices like Alexa and Siri and made them more affordable, alluring, and feasible for home applications.
15 IoT Applications in Day-to-Day Life
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Smart Home
The most popular real-time application of IoT is the smart home, as it is affordable and readily available. The voices of the customers can control many IoT products in the market. Examples of such products are Amazon Echo, temperature sensors (both digital and analogue), ultrasonic sensors for measuring the water level, lux sensors to measure luminosity, video cameras for safety and surveillance, and a Nest thermostat. Face recognition technology alleviates the need for physical keys to open and lock the house. The users can enable face recognition for the family members, so strangers can’t break into the house.
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Wearable IoT
Watches are no longer limited to telling time. Smartwatches like Apple Watch have digitalized consumer’s wrists by facilitating text messages, phone calls, and so on. Other smart IoT wearables like Jawbone and Fitbit have revamped the world of fitness by providing all minute details about working out like calories burnt, the distance walked, heart rate and even weight.
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Smart Cities
Smart and digitized cities can be created using IoT. IoT can recast an entire city by addressing the real-life issues faced by the citizens like traffic jams, roadblocks, excessive noise, violations, and pollution with the help of data and proper connectivity. In short, IoT can rebuild an entire city with ease.
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Connected Cars
Vehicles can be connected to the internet and remotely controlled by the owner. The sensors perform all the functions for the owners like starting the vehicle, setting alarms, locking & unlocking with an intelligent lock system, and opening the boot. Vehicles can be completely digitalized and made autonomous with modern IoT technology.
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Industrial Internet
The Industrial Internet is a revolution of the industrial sector. Also known as the Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT), the concept aims at providing efficient software, robust sensors, and analytics to produce smart machines. IIoT assures quality control and sustainability. The main applications of IIoT are tracking goods, real-time notifications from the inventory to the suppliers, and automated delivery. This dramatically improves the demand-supply efficiency.
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Agricultural IoT
Agriculture has become the primary focal point in many countries as the world is challenged by the growing population and demand for food supply. The Agricultural Internet of Things aims at assisting farmers in increasing food production. Smart farming has become the norm in many parts of the world. Farmers are given valuable insights from the accumulated data. They are given information on soil nutrient requirements, soil moisture, controlled use of water, optimal use of fertilizers according to their soil, etc.
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Smart Retail
The potential of IoT in retail is tremendous. It helps the retailers to connect better with their customers and enhance customer service. The retailers can connect with their customers out of the store as well through smartphones and Beacon technology. The retail IoT helps retailers to identify the areas of high traffic and place their premium products accordingly.
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Smart Energy Management
IoT has made the power grids smart and highly reliable. The Smart grid concept is to automate data collection and use the data to observe the behaviour pattern of suppliers and consumers. This helps to improve energy efficiency and optimize its use. Smart grids can sense power disruptions much faster and help with uniform power distribution.
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Connected Healthcare
IoT in healthcare is the most demanded feature in today’s world. Connected healthcare and automated medical devices are a boon to healthcare companies and the common public. Reports suggest a massive surge in the application of IoT in healthcare. The main objective of IoT in healthcare is to empower people to lead a healthy and vigilant life with the help of smart devices connected to them to track every parameter. The devices collect relevant information that can provide an individual’s complete health report and the necessary strategies to tackle illness (if any).
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IoT in Farming and Poultry
Livestock tracking is the backbone of animal rearing. With the help of IoT applications, ranchers can track the health of cattle and prevent animals from contracting mass infections. The collected data can be used to increase poultry production through cost-effective techniques.
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Smart Lighting
This is a modern application of IoT that is slowly becoming popular. Bulbs and battens connected to the internet can be operated from any place through voice recognition technology. Other factors like brightness and power consumption can also be monitored.
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IoT in Traffic Management and Road Toll Collection
Using the data generated by IoT devices and cameras, traffic authorities can operate the traffic lights on busy highways and roads. This makes road journeys much safer and regulated. Toll collection has been made wholly automated with IoT. This detects the approaching vehicles and automatically imposes the barrier. The barrier is lifted only after collecting the toll fee.
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Smart Parking
Imposing parking regulations in multi-storied buildings is a challenging task. With the advent of IoT, This has been made easier and more convenient. The IoT devices will keep a tab of the number of cars parked and exited cars. This helps the drivers to know the available parking slots. Specialized IoT devices can help car owners by letting them know the exact location of their car parking.
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Waste Management
Waste management is a serious challenge posed to many city authorities. Many cities do not have an efficient waste management system because of the lack of standard management tools and defined routes for the garbage trucks to carry the waste. IoT devices can help the authorities to track the movement of the garbage trucks, observe the loading capacity of the dump yards, and improve the overall efficiency of the process.
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Water Conservation
Common people and industrial facilities are often unaware of the local water bodies (underground storage and overhead tanks) and their levels. IoT systems can keep track of the water level. This allows people to know about water consumption and optimize the same. The bigger picture also helps the city authorities monitor water body levels and impose strategies to improve water conservation. It also raises an alert when the water levels are alarmingly high.
Wrapping Up
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